Women's Lacrosse

Women's Lacrosse Defeats Framingham State, 11-10

NORTH DARTMOUTH, MA-It was not easy, but in the end the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth's women's lacrosse team outlasted visiting Framingham State, 11-10, at Cressy Field Saturday afternoon. The Corsairs withstood whipping winds and an early second half rally by the Rams to gain their first win of the 2009 season.

Trailing 10-9 in the game's final ten minutes, the Corsairs controlled the remainder of the game. The game-tying and game-winning goals were aptly scored by freshman midfielder Allison O'Rourke (Weymouth, MA/Weymouth High) and junior midfielder Kara Basque (Plainville, MA/King Philip/Sacred Heart) respectively, the Corsairs' two most prolific scorers of the afternoon. O'Rourke led all scorers with four goals, while Basque was second on the team with three.

Basque's goal broke a 10-10 tie with only 1:26 left in the game. The goal snapped a standstill of over six minutes, stretching back to O'Rourke's game-tying goal assisted by sophomore attacker Samantha Wonson (Lowell, MA/Lowell HS) with 8:01 remaining.

The Corsairs built an early 7-3 advantage in the first half, capped off by an acrobatic goal from junior midfielder Andrea Russo (Tyngsboro, MA/Tyngsboro HS) with 10:47 left. Russo took a feed from fellow Tyngsboro alum Allison Trearchis, and shot on the run after a spin to gain a clear look at the net.

The Rams came storming back after the Russo goal, scoring five of the game's next six goals to tie the score at eight. Three of the five Ram goals were scored by sophomore attacker Stephanie Corrales (Framingham, MA/Framingham HS), including her game-tying goal with 18:38 to play. Both Corrales and freshman midfielder Kerry Kiley (Mansfield, MA/Mansfield HS) shared the team lead with three goals apiece.

Although the Corsairs had problems defending Corrales and Kiley all afternoon, a strong goaltending effort by junior goalkeeper Liz Miller (Littleton, MA/Westford Academy/New Hampshire) keyed the Corsair victory. In just her third career start in goal, the converted midfielder held the Rams to five goals in each half. The ten goals were the fewest allowed in any of her starts. Miller had nine saves on the afternoon, while the Rams' sophomore Allesha Kenyon (Westford, MA/Westford Academy) had 14.

Following the win, UMass Dartmouth Head Coach Jerry Jennings spoke highly of his team's resiliency. "Finally, we put it all together," Jennings said. "I have nothing but praise for these women who waited a long time for this win. They didn't fold, they didn't quit, and they had the will to win."

As the final seconds expired, the Corsairs rushed the field while shouting in excitement. Moments later, exiting spectators heard the exact same thing happen at the adjacent baseball field, where the Corsair baseball team almost simultaneously knocked off \#1 ranked Eastern Connecticut by a score of 4-3. The late afternoon victories completed a three game, campus-wide Saturday sweep; the men's lacrosse team defeated UMass Boston by a score of 8-2 earlier in the afternoon at Cressy Field.

The Corsairs improved to 1-6 with the victory, while the Panthers fell to 2-3 in defeat. UMass Dartmouth will return to action when they host the Amcats of Anna Maria College at 4 p.m. Tuesday. Framingham State travels to take on Western Connecticut in Danbury at 4:30 on Tuesday afternoon.